Hay conditioning apparatus

ABSTRACT

A hay conditioning apparatus includes a first roller which is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting and a second counter-rotating (compression) roller which is rotatably mounted in connection with a moveable mounting. The compression roller is in rolling contact with the first roller and is adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween for conditioning. The moveable mounting allows the compression roller to be displaced relative to the first roller as the hay passes between the rollers and also includes a hydraulic cylinder for applying a compression force to the compression roller. As the pre-cut hay passes between the rollers, it is subjected to a predetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flatten any green nodes on the hay and thereby accelerate drying of the hay.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for conditioning hay andrelates particularly, though not exclusively to such an apparatus forconditioning cereals and grasses.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Various types of grasses, cereals and other crops are grown to make hayfor animal fodder. The grass or cereal is mown or cut and then driedbefore being baled for storage. The hay may be left to dry in the sunand/or may be subject to conditioning in order to accelerate the processof drying or curing. Oaten hay can take two or more weeks to dry orcure, ie. the time taken between cutting/mowing and the hay being dryenough (12% moisture) to bale. This drying/curing time is when the hayis most vulnerable to damage from rain. Any rain on hay in windrows(after cutting and before baling) will result in damage to the qualityof the hay. Every year, many thousands of tonnes of hay are madeworthless because of rain on windrows.

Prior art conditioning equipment is typically incorporated within themower, or alternatively conditioning of the hay may be performed in aseparate operation by another machine after the hay has been cut.Conditioning rollers take many forms and all work on the principal ofcrimping the hay fibres. During crimping of the hay fibres, the stems ofthe hay are split or cracked open which allows the more rapid egress ofmoisture from within the stems to atmosphere during drying. To achievethis crimping, prior art conditioners rely on interlocking lugs or ribson the rollers. One of the most popular designs of traditionalconditioner is the CHEVRON™ style of interlocking rubber rollers. Inprior art conditioners the rollers can both have steel surfaces or bothhave rubber lagging or one roller with steel and the other with rubber.Other conditioners use flail-like devices which rely on rotating hammersattached by a chain to a drive shaft.

All grasses and cereals have nodes in their stems. These nodes are fullof a fine honeycomb type cellulose material, whereas the stem is in theform of a hollow tube through which nutrients and water are transportedto the leaves and head. Unfortunately, traditional hay conditioners haveno effect on the nodes. For the production of high quality hay the nodesmust be dry before the hay is baled. However, the nodes typically taketwo or three times longer to dry/cure than the stems and leaves of thegrasses and cereals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was developed with a view to providing an improvedmethod and apparatus for conditioning hay in which the nodes are alsoconditioned.

Throughout this specification the term “comprising” is used inclusively,in the sense that there may be other features and/or steps included inthe invention not expressly defined or comprehended in the features orsteps subsequently defined or described. What such other features and/orsteps may include will be apparent from the specification read as awhole.

According to one aspect the present invention there is provided a methodof conditioning hay, the hay being made from plants used for animalfodder of the type having nodes in their stems, the nodes beingsignificantly less compressible than the stems, the method comprising:

compressing the hay between a pair of rollers with a predeterminedcompression force sufficient to substantially flatten any nodes on thehay and thereby accelerate drying of the hay.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedan apparatus for conditioning hay, the apparatus comprising:

a first roller mounted for rotation and a second counter-rotating rollermounted in rolling contact with the first roller, said first and secondrollers being adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween; wherein saidfirst roller is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting and said secondroller is rotatably mounted in a moveable mounting such that the secondroller is displaceable relative to the first roller as the hay passesbetween the rollers during use; and

wherein said moveable mounting comprises a pivotable support armpivotably mounted at a location spaced from the axis of rotation of thesecond roller, and a rockable support frame pivotably mounted on saidsupport arm, the second roller being rotatably mounted on said supportframe;

the arrangement being such that the suport frame is able to pivot duringuse about a pivot axis substantially perpendicular to the axis ofrotation of the second roller and the second roller s thereby able torock about said pivot axis in order to facilitate passage between saidrollers of an object during use.

Preferably the moveable mounting includes a compression device forapplying compression force to the second roller. The compression forceapplied to the second roller may be variable to suit the type of cropmaterial passing through the apparatus. The compression force may bemeasured as the linear specific pressure applied to the crop material asit passes between the rollers, and the linear specific pressure may liewithin the range of 17 to 32 N/mm. The linear specific pressure appliedto the crop material as it passes between the rollers may be between therange of 20 to 30 N/mm.

Preferably, at least one of the first and second rollers is covered witha rubber or synthetic lagging material. The outer surfaces of said firstand second rollers may be substantially smooth.

The apparatus may further comprise means for feeding pre-cut hay betweensaid rollers.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is providedan apparatus for conditioning hay, the apparatus comprising:

a first roller mounted for rotation and a second counter-rotating rollermounted in rolling contact with the first roller, said first and secondrollers being adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween;

wherein said first roller is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting andsaid second roller is rotatably mounted on a moveable mounting such thatthe second roller is displaceable relative to the first roller as haypasses between said rollers during use; and

a compression device for applying a compression force to the secondroller so as to compress hay as the hay passes through said rollersduring use;

wherein said moveable mounting comprises a pivotable support armpivotably mounted at a location spaced from the axis of rotation of thesecond roller, and a rockable support frame pivotably mounted on saidsupport arm, the second roller being rotatably mounted on said supportframe, the support frame being able to pivot during use about a pivotaxis substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the secondroller and the second roller is thereby able to rock about said pivotaxis in order to facilitate passage between said rollers of an objectduring use; and

wherein during use, as the hay passes between the rollers it is subjectto a predetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flattenany nodes on the hay the thereby accelerate drying of the hay.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the natureof the invention a preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus ofhay conditioning will now be described in detail, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a stem of a plant having a green node;

FIG. 2 illustrates a stem of a plant with nodes after drying;

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the apparatus forconditioning hay in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the hay conditioning apparatus builtinto a mowing machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

All grasses and cereals and some other plants used for animal fodderhave nodes in their stem. FIG. 1 is an enlargement of a typical plantstem 10 having a node (joint/knuckle) 12 which is still green. The stem10 is generally hollow and easily split or cracked open, whereas thenodes 12 are less compressible and are typically filled with a matrix offine honeycomb type cellulose material. As the node 12 dries it shrinksin volume as illustrated in FIG. 2.

A preferred embodiment of the hay conditioning apparatus 20 inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and5. The apparatus 20 comprises a first roller 22 which is rotatablymounted in a fixed mounting, and a second counter-rotating roller 24which is rotatably mounted in connection with a moveable mounting 26.The second roller 24 is in rolling contact with the first roller 22 andis adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween for conditioning. Themoveable mounting 26 allows the second roller 24 to be displacedrelative to the first roller 22 as the hay passes between the rollers,and also includes a compression means 30 for applying a compressionforce to the second roller 24. In this embodiment compression means 30includes an hydraulic cylinder 32. As the pre-cut hay passes between therollers 22 and 24 it is subject to a predetermined compression forcesufficient to substantially flatten any green nodes on the hay andthereby accelerate drying of the hay.

Preferably, both rollers 22 and 24 are driven by a suitable motorcoupled to the rollers via a drive transmission (not illustrated). Inthis connection, the conditioning apparatus 20 may be incorporated in amowing machine, or constructed as a stand-alone unit. The rollers 22 and24 are both preferably provided with a substantially smooth or plainexterior surface, or alternatively the external surface may be grooveddepending on the type of plant fodder being conditioned. Both rollers 22and 24 are manufactured from steel, although rubber or synthetic laggedrollers may also be employed. The fixed roller 22 of this embodiment hasa rubber surface 25 (see FIG. 4), whereas the compression roller 24 isprovided with a steel surface. A key feature of the improvedconditioning apparatus 20 is that the compression roller 24 exertssufficient force on the pre-cut hay to substantially completely flattenthe green nodes on the plant stems. When the green nodes on the plantstems are rolled flat, moisture retained within the nodes is allowed toescape to atmosphere more quickly than when the nodes remain whole.Hence, the flattened nodes should dry as quickly as the rest of theplant, It is anticipated that this method of conditioning cereal orgrass will reduce drying times by between 25%-50%, compared totraditional conditioning.

In order to exert sufficient compression force on the pre-cut hay thereis a trade-off in the amount of force required from the hydrauliccylinder 32 and the cushioning effect of the rubber lagging on therollers 22 and 24. If both rollers are lagged with 16 mm 60 Duro rubber,then approximately 1700 psi of pressure is required in the hydrauliccylinder 32. (60 Duro is a measure of hardness of the rubber, whereDurometer is a standard unit of rubber hardness). The rubber employed onthe rollers is preferably relatively hard with a minimum hardness of 40Duro and a maximum hardness of 80 Duro. The optimum hardness of therubber lagging is between 50-60 Duro. Preferably between 10 and 20 mm oflagging is provided on both rollers, more typically 12 mm thicknesslagging. On the other hand, with one steel roller and the other rollerhaving 20 mm of rubber lagging (60 Duro) only 1500 psi of cylinderpressure is required to squash the hay completely, including the greennodes on the plant stems. With lagging on both rollers the cylinderpressure needed may increase to as high as 2000 psi. However, even ifboth rollers are steel (without rubber lagging) the cylinder pressurerequired to totally squash the green nodes is generally not less than1000 psi.

The pressure required also depends on the length and to some extent onthe diameter of the rollers. The linear specific pressure at the pointof contact between the rollers can be calculated using the followingformula:

P _(1s) =F/L

where P_(1s)=linear specific pressure

F=the downward force applied to the compression roller 24 by thehydraulic cylinder 32.

L=the length of the surfaces of the rollers in rolling contact

The downward force F applied to the compression roller 24 is somewhatless than the force generated by the hydraulic cylinder 32 due to themechanical advantage of the intervening mechanical system. Themechanical advantage of the system in the illustrated embodiment hasbeen calculated empirically to be 0.5875. Using a 3.5 inch (88.9 mm)cylinder, and cylinder pressure of 1700psi, F=42732N. If the length ofthe rollers is 1500 mm, the linear specific pressure can be calculatedas follows:

P _(1s)=42732/1500=28.49N/mm

If the cylinder pressure is reduced to 2000 psi the linear specificpressure P_(1s)=33.52N/mm, whereas if the cylinder pressure is reducedto 1000 psi, P_(1s)=16.76 N/mm. In order to ensure that the green nodesare substantially flattened it is preferred to have a linear specificpressure P_(1s) falling within the range of approximately 17 to 32 N/mm,more preferably approximately 20 to 30 N/mm.

The diameter of the rollers 22 and 24 is typically between 200 mm to 900mm. In the illustrated embodiment, the outside diameter of the firstroller 22 (with lagging) is 430 mm, whereas the outside diameter of thesecond roller 24 (without lagging) is 406 mm. Preferably the rubberlagging 25 on the first roller 22 is substantially smooth. However, theprovision of shallow grooves to aid feeding is acceptable.

The moveable mounting 26 for the second (compression) roller 24 in theillustrated embodiment comprises a pivotable support arm 33 having thecompression roller 24 rotatably mounted thereon, and having the otherend pivotally connected to a pivot point 34 which is spaced from theaxis of rotation of the compression roller 24. In this way, the supportarm 33 acts as a lever for applying a compression force to thecompression roller 24 by means of the hydraulic cylinder 32. Themagnitude of the compression force applied to the second roller 24 canbe varied by changing the pressure of hydraulic fluid supplied to thecylinder 32. An hydraulic accumulator (not illustrated) is provided tomaintain the hydraulic pressure to the cylinder 32.

Advantageously the moveable mounting 26 for the compression roller 24 ispivotable about two perpendicular axes 34 and 36. As noted above, thepivotable arm 33 is pivotally connected to a pivot point on the firstaxis 34. Moveable mounting 26 further comprises a rockable support frame38 in which the compression roller 24 is rotatably mounted. Supportframe 38 is pivotally couple to the support arm 33 so as to be pivotableabout the second axis 36 which is perpendicular to the first axis 34.Stub axle 40 are provided on both sides of the support frame 38 and arepivotally received within bearing 42 provided on the support arm 33.This arrangement allows the support frame 38 and compression roller 24to “rock” about axis 36. Hence, in the event that a slug or oversizedmat of crop material passes between the rollers 22 and 24, only thatside of the roller 24 in the region of the slug needs to lift in orderto allow the slug to pass through. In this way, conditioning of cropmaterial passing between the rollers elsewhere is not compromised. Also,the rollers are less likely to jam since it is not necessary for thewhole of the compression roller 24 to be lifted, only tha side of theroller in the region of the blockage or obstacle.

In the illustrated embodiment, hydraulic cylinder 32 is a single actingcylinder, and hence a series of return springs 44 are provided togenerate a lifting force to lift the moveable mounting 26 when thepressure of hydraulic fluid supplied to the cylinder 32 is reduced.However, clearly a double acting cylinder could be employed in place ofthe single acting cylinder 32.

As noted above, the hay conditioning apparatus of the invention may bebuilt as a stand-alone unit, or may be incorporated in an existingharvester or mowing machine. FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the hayconditioning apparatus 50 built into the front end of a New Holland selfpropelled windrowing machine. As with the previous embodiment, the hayconditioning apparatus 50 comprises a first fixed roller 52 and a secondmoveable (compression) roller 54 which is rotatably mounted in amoveable mounting 56 so that as hay passes between the rollers thesecond roller 54 can be displaced relative to the first roller 52.Compression means 60 of this embodiment comprises an hydraulic cylinder62 for applying a compression force to the second roller 54. As thepre-cut hay passes between the rollers 52 and 54 it is subject to apredetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flatten anygreen nodes on the hay and thereby accelerate drying of the hay.

The conditioning apparatus 50 may also include a means 68 for feedingthe pre-cut hay to the first and second rollers 52 and 54. In theillustrated embodiment, a rotatable rake drum 68 is provided for pickingup the pre-cut cereal or grass and feeding it between the first andsecond rollers 52 and 54.

It will be apparent from the above description of a preferred embodimentof the method and apparatus of hay conditioning, that it provides atleast the following advantages:

(i) it dramatically reduces the present drying/curing time for hay;

(ii) it thereby reduces the risk of damage to the hay due to rain;

(iii) it may also assist in minimizing damage to hay by squeezing excesswater (after rain) from the stems and leaves of the hay;

(iv) it is thought that this method of conditioning may also improve thequality of the hay regardless of rain damage; and,

(v) it can be readily incorporated in existing mowing machines and/orconditioners.

Numerous variations and modifications will suggest themselves to personsskilled in the agricultural arts, in addition to those alreadydescribed, without departing from the basic inventive concepts. Forexample, it will be evident that this method of conditioning may also bebeneficial for other types of hay such as, for example, lucerne, clover,sudan/sudax etc. The method may also involve passing the hay throughmore than one pair of rollers in order to flatten all the green nodes onthe plant stems. All such variations and modifications are to beconsidered within the scope of the present invention, the nature ofwhich is to be determined from the foregoing description and theappended claims.

The claims defining the invention are as follows:
 1. An apparatus forconditioning hay, the apparatus comprising: a first roller mounted forrotation and a second counter-rotating roller mounted in rolling contactwith the first roller, said first and second rollers being adapted toreceive pre-cut hay therebetween; wherein said first roller is rotatablymounted in a fixed mounting and said second roller is rotatably mountedon a moveable mounting such that the second roller is displaceablerelative to the first roller as hay passes between said rollers duringuse; and a compression device for applying a compression force to thesecond roller so as to compress hay as the hay passes through saidrollers during use; wherein said moveable mounting comprises a pivotablesupport arm pivotably mounted at a location spaced from the axis ofrotation of the second roller, and a rockable support frame pivotablymounted on a pivot axis disposed perpendicularly to the axis of rotationof the second roller on said support arm, the second roller beingrotatably mounted on said support frame, the support frame being able topivot during use about said pivot axis substantially perpendicular tothe axis of rotation of the second roller and the second roller isthereby able to rock about said pivot axis in order to facilitatepassage between said rollers of an object during use; and wherein,during use, as the hay passes between the rollers it is subject to apredetermined compression force sufficient to substantially flatten anynodes on the hay and thereby accelerate drying of the hay.
 2. Anapparatus for conditioning hay, the apparatus comprising: a first rollermounted for rotation and a second counter-rotating roller mounted inrolling contact with the first rollers, said first and second rollersbeing adapted to receive pre-cut hay therebetween; wherein said firstroller is rotatably mounted in a fixed mounting and said second rolleris rotatably mounted in a moveable mounting such that the second rolleris displaceable relative to the first roller as hay passes between saidrollers during use; and wherein said moveable mounting comprises apivotable support arm pivotally mounted at a location spaced from theaxis of rotation of the second roller, and a rockable support framepivotably mounted on a pivot axis disposed perpendicularly to the axisof rotation of the second roller on said support arm, the second rollerbeing rotatably mounted on said support frame; the support frame beingpivotable during use about said pivot axis substantially perpendicularto the axis of rotation of the second roller and the second roller isthereby able to rock about said pivot axis in order to facilitatepassage between said rollers of an object during use.
 3. An apparatusfor conditioning hay as defined in claim 2 wherein said moveablemounting includes a compression device for applying a compression forceto the second roller.
 4. An apparatus for conditioning hay as defined inclaim 3, wherein the compression force applied to the second roller isvariable to suit the type of crop material passing through theapparatus.
 5. An apparatus for conditioning hay as defined in claim 3,wherein said predetermined compression force is measured as the linearspecific pressure applied to the crop material as it passes between therollers, and wherein said linear specific pressure lies within the rangeof 17 to 32 N/mm.
 6. An apparatus for conditioning hay as defined inclaim 5, wherein the linear specific pressure applied to the cropmaterial as it passes between the rollers lies within the range of 20 to30 N/mm.
 7. An apparatus for conditioning hay as defined in claim 2,wherein at least one of the first and second rollers is covered with arubber or synthetic lagging material.
 8. An apparatus for conditioninghay as defined in claim 7, wherein the outer surfaces of said first andsecond rollers are substantially smooth.
 9. An apparatus forconditioning hay as defined in claim 2, wherein the apparatus furthercomprises means for feeding pre-cut hay between said rollers.